Amir here, with the long weekend’s box office report. It was Valentine’s so romantic flicks opened, one of which didn’t do too well financially. But enough about RoboCop! How about that About Last Night? It’s been a few weeks since the last time we were collectively surprised that a “black” film did well at the box office, so let’s go at it again: can you believe that a film with a non-white cast can sell tickets too? Unbelievable, no? It turns out Hollywood doesn’t need to cast white people in every role, not even in all romantic comedies. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the last rom-com to do this well, Think Like a Man, starred three of the actors in this quartet: Kevin Hart, Regina Hall and Michael Ealy.)

The other new release targeted to the lovey-dovey crowd was Endless Love – three 80s remakes in one weekend is a new low for the creatively constipated Hollywood – and according to Box Office Mojo, it nearly broke a record for the absurd title of “the most front-loaded release of all time”; 56% of the film’s gross was pocketed on Friday. The LEGO Movie held on to the throne, though, and after two weeks, is already a major contender for 2014's year-end top ten. I re-watched it and it was even funnier and smarter than I’d remembered -- we already have our first solid contender in the best animated film race. I also watched Blue Jasmine a second time and this one also improved significantly upon a revisit. Later tonight, I’ll be off to see Palestine’s Oscar nominee, Omar. (You can always follow everything I see here on this page.)

I saw The Lego Movie last week, and liked it mostly, but thought the third act became a bit muddled conceptually. Still, very funny, very inventive, strong thematically - so much better than this movie should have been.

Saturday I saw Jacque Rivette's first film, Paris Belongs to Us, on the big screen, in a beautiful 35mm print. I've been dying to see this one for years, and it's nearly as good as I'd hoped it would be, and shows that all of Rivette's career passions were there right from the start. It's a charming shaggy dog, and I suspect one that would deeply reward repeat viewings. Hopefully some adventurous US company (Criterion? Are you listening?) will finally get around to putting this (and some other Rivette flms please!) out on DVD.

Today I watched 20 Feet from Stardom and had a blast. Such an honest, funny, soulful film.

House of Cards, episodes 1-3. Wow. Also, Twenty Feet from Stardom, which I enjoyed so much, I watched it twice. I've seen 4 of the 5 nominated docs now, but I can't bring myself to see Act of Killing. I feel the same way about The Wolf of Wall Street, so I guess I'm 8 for 9 this year for Best Picture. Alas, another year without being an Oscar completist.

TB- Working on my review today, but in short, I thought it was stellar. A bit on the heavy-handed side in terms of direction, but the political richness of it without being partisan and the way it explores the effects of occupation on a micro-social level were superb. And a great love story to boot too!

stjeans, always great to see a fellow Nebraskan! It's my second favorite of the year (12YaS is my No. 1). Can't wait to see it again--Payne really made a classic.

This remake of Endless Love makes me smile. I remember the original as being a real howlfest. It was so long ago, but at the time I was quite enamored of Martin Hewitt. And Shirley Knight's performance is so over the top...that scene where she tries to seduce her daughter's ex-boyfriend...good stuff! Shirley got a lot of fiber in her diet from the scenery working on this film. Seemed like she was channeling one of the Manson chicks.